May 27, 2007
Columbia, S.C. –
South Carolina has been selected as one of the 16 regional host institutions for the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship as announced by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee on Sunday afternoon. By virtue of being awarded a regional, South Carolina has been selected as an at-large to the 64-team field of the NCAA Baseball Tournament. South Carolina heads into the postseason with a 42-18 record and following a third place finish in the Southeastern Conference. More information on the 2007 Columbia, SC Regional will be released following the announcement of the 64-team field on Monday afternoon at 12:30 pm on ESPN.
This marks the 11th time in school history that the Gamecocks will host an NCAA Regional in baseball. Since the move to the Regional-Super Regional format, Carolina has hosted an NCAA Regional five times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007).
The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records through Saturday, May 26, are as follows: Arizona St. (43-13), Tempe, Ariz.; Arkansas (41-18), Fayetteville, Ark.; Coastal Caro. (48-11), Conway, S.C.; Florida St. (47-11), Tallahassee, Fla.; Long Beach St. (36-18), Long Beach, Calif.; Missouri (40-16), Columbia, Mo.; North Carolina (47-12), Chapel Hill, N.C.; Ole Miss (37-23), Oxford, Miss.; Rice (48-12), Houston; San Diego (42-16), San Diego; South Carolina (42-18), Columbia, S.C.; Texas (44-15), Austin, Texas; Texas A&M (43-16), College Station, Texas; Vanderbilt (50-11), Nashville; Virginia (43-14), Charlottesville, Va.; Wichita St. (49-19), Wichita, Kan.
The regional hosted by Coastal Caro. will be played at Coastal Federal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the regional hosted by Texas will be played at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas.
By virtue of being awarded a regional, eight of the host institutions also have been selected as at-large teams to the 64-team field. Florida St., Long Beach St., Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wichita St., have made the field as at-large selections. Arkansas, North Carolina, Rice, San Diego, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, would clinch automatic berths by winning their conference tournament championship, which are scheduled for Sunday afternoon. A loss in those tournament championship games makes them an at-large selection. Arizona St. and Coastal Caro. have already clinched automatic berths by virtue of winning the Pacific-10 and Big South Conference, respectively. Each regional field features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. All 16 regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 1, to Monday, June 4.
The remaining at-large teams, top-eight national seeds, first-round regional pairings and site assignments will be announced at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, Monday, May 28, during a live, half-hour program on ESPN. The committee will set the entire 64-team bracket through both the super regionals and the first round of the Men’s College World Series, and will not reseed the field after play begins. Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on www.NCAASports.com, Monday, June 4 at approximately 11 p.m. (ET).
Thirty Division I conferences receive an automatic berth in the field of 64, along with 34 at-large selections. The 61st Men’s College World Series begins play Friday, June 15, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.
